About Bungay Museum

The Museum is housed in two rooms on the first floor of the Bungay Town Council Offices on Broad Street, Bungay.

The original museum was opened in 1963 by Miss Lilias Rider Haggard, daughter of author Sir Henry Rider Haggard. The collection was amassed with the help of John Gibbs, former Town Clerk to Bungay Urban District Council, and Dr Hugh Cane, the new Museum Curator and local GP. The collection was supplemented over the years by donations from the family of the writer Sir H. Rider Haggard, and Mrs Ethel Mann, a local historian and author. Other objects, photographs and documents have been donated by Mr Paul Roe, the former Town Recorder and keen film maker and photographer, Mr Frank Honeywood, as well as numerous other people in the area.

In 1974 Bungay Urban District Council was abolished and Waveney District Council and Bungay Town Council came into existence.  All holdings of Bungay Urban District Council were passed to Waveney District Council.

In 1976 the Museum became a Charitable Trust, and Waveney District Council became its Guardian Trustee.  Bungay Museum’s constitution was drawn up in 1977, with the following purpose:

“To establish and maintain for the public benefit and education of the inhabitants of the town and environs of Bungay a museum collection… which shall include exhibits and records of particular significance to the local communities of the area…’

In 2021 Waveney District Council merged with Suffolk Coastal District Council to become East Suffolk District Council and Guardian Trusteeship passed to Bungay Town Council. Bungay Museum Trust continues to manage the collection and museum with support from the town, and relies on donations and visitors to fund its work.

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